Identical Twins

Brigitta and Edina Hagymasi were enjoying a normal childhood of playing with dolls, going to school and helping with household chores.But their future looked grim. Born with a rare form of dwarfism seven years ago, the sisters had to move more slowly than their triplet brother, who was not born with the genetic defect. The girls had begun to feel pain when climbing stairs or running.By adolescence, Brigitta and Edina would have needed assistance to walk. As adults, they faced life in wheelchairs.

SURROGATE MOTHERS, in vitro fertilization, egg and sperm donation -- none of these developments in reproductive technology seemed to set off as many urgent ethical alarms as the advent in Scotland of a lamb named Dolly who is an exact VTC genetic replica of an adult sheep. Coming much sooner than many scientists had expected, the successful cloning of a mammal raises hopes and fears, some more justified than others.After all, a California woman has just won a hotly contested "custody" battle centering on 12 vials of frozen sperm deposited by her late lover so that she could bear his child after his death.

Baseball Blue Jays: Recalled PPeter Munro from Syracuse. Announced that Pat Kelly, manager of Syracuse, and will be reassigned. Named Mel Queen manager of Syracuse. Cardinals: Activated P Mark Thompson from 15-day DL. Purchased contract of PJose Rodriguez from Triple-A Memphis. Optioned P Justin Brunette and 1B Larry Sutton to Memphis. Transferred P Dave Wainhouse from 15-day to 60-day DL. Pirates: Optioned P Brian O'Connor to Double-A Altoona. Recalled OF Emil Brown from Triple-A Nashville.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE(Warner Home Video$92.99Jeremy Irons is one of our best actors. Many felt he deserved the Oscar for his chilling portrait of identical twins in "Dead Ringers." The ones who count -- the members of the Academy -- gave him one this time for his haunting, darkly humorous portrayal of Claus von Bulow, the haute society millionaire initially accused of attempting to murder his wife Sunny, the source of his wealth. Director Barbet Schroeder is drawn to oddball, even repellent characters in his films -- from a documentary on Idi Amin to his belching portrait of L.A. in "Barfly."

Obesity experts are turning away from diet and exercise as the sole therapy for treating overweight patients, according to doctors at the annual meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity.New drugs are showing promise in treating overweight patients, and researchers are discovering more about the genetic basis of obesity that one day may help them design more-effective treatments.Researchers now realize obesity is a problem with medical roots, said Dr. Richard Atkinson of Eastern Virginia Medical School.

Alan Alda presents a provocative science special with a Baltimore angle on Maryland Public Television, and Nick At Nite offers a blessed event in a memorable "Bewitched" repeat.* "Scientific America Frontiers: Life's Big Questions" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., MPT, Channels 22, 67) -- The Baltimore-based operation of the Hubble Space Telescope gets some attention. Among those big questions: Who else might be out there? PBS* "Beverly Hills, 90210" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- A repeat of the season finale sets up some of the plot questions to be resolved soon in a new season, as the series' principals travel to Palm Springs for a convention.

FLORENCE, Italy -- The number of crucial immune-system cells in a man with AIDS has doubled in the three months since he received a bone-marrow transplant from his healthy brother, who had been given an experimental AIDS vaccine to boost his immune system, researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health said yesterday.Described for the first time at yesterday's session of the Seventh International Conference on AIDS, the procedure was one of several exotic approaches to treatment outlined at a meeting that has seen no announcements of major treatment advances.

LONDON -- How much does ritzy cost? Try about $900,000 a room.That was the going rate paid by the reclusive Barclay twins, who agreed to a $116 million deal yesterday to buy one of the world's most famous hotels, the Ritz of London.The deal was done through the millionaire brothers' Ellerman Investments and an affiliated company.The five-star hotel was on and off the market for several years, but Trafalgar House apparently was in no rush to sell. Last year, the Ritz posted a profit of nearly $6.2 million.

Women have as strong an inherited susceptibility to alcoholism as men, according to a report appearing today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.In recent years, several studies have shown that in men genetics accounts for 50 percent to 60 percent of the factors that determine a person's vulnerability to a severe drinking problem.The new study shows that the same magnitude holds for women, said Dr. Kenneth Kendler, a psychiatrist at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Va., who led the study.

A double-digit fourth-quarter deficit often spells trouble. For Hammond, that is where it wants to be. The Bears have displayed some mettle in the early stages of the season, and yesterday afternoon they came storming back in the final period for a 55-50 triumph over visiting Howard in a Howard County league game. Senior guard Michael Traber led Hammond (4-2, 3-1) with 16 points -- including four three-pointers -- and Taj Murphy contributed 14 points, five assists and four steals. Delorean Hamilton led Howard (2-4, 1-3)